THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the AI camera project is mired in controversies, the Motor Vehicle Department faces another headache. The Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron), entrusted to manage the control room for issuing challans to traffic offenders, has refused to send them anymore over a confusion of who will cover their cost.
The controversy has affected the functioning of the control rooms set up to issue the challans. “It costs at least Rs 5 to send challans or notices. If we have to send 1 lakh notices, it will result in an expense of Rs 5 lakh,” said an officer, who added that the decision to give a one-month extension before charging penalties was also “unexpected”.
Though the cameras became active on April 20, the government has decided to levy penalties only from May 20. The Motor Vehicle Department planned to use the interim period to create awareness about the function of the AI cameras by sending notices to traffic violators caught by the cameras instead of sending challans.
“We have incurred expenses in recruiting people for managing the facilities,” the officer said. “The facility management centre is like a passport office where designated people check the offence, take care of the equipment and issue penalties.
We expect a total cost of Rs 1 crore every month to run the centres. The cost will vary depending on the number of challans issued,” the officer added. The cameras detect at least 1.5 lakh violations in a day. The motorists are alerted about the offence on their registered mobile number and also get a challan by post.
Clarity soon in issuance of challans, says MVD
As per the agreement, Keltron gets a percentage of the revenue generated from the penalty money every quarter. Keltron recruited 160 people to manage the state and district control rooms under the ‘Fully Automated Traffic Enforcement System’.
There are already apprehensions among officers in Keltron after the camera project became a controversy. There are two levels of inquiries on the deal - from the Transport and Industries departments. Besides, the Opposition UDF, too, has demanded a judicial probe. So far, Keltron has spent over `10 crore on the project.
A senior officer of the MVD said “There are some technical issues with regard to the issuance of notice. The transport department is likely to issue an order in this regard.”